Another
by Hazey Rine Chu
Summary: Her friends had just played a sick joke on her. The world seemed so unfriendly when the sun was no longer out. It felt cold and empty. The stars didn't prove much when you weren't looking at them. Nadeshiko just wanted to get home and finally she did.


She was running. Running like hell. Tears dotted the corners of her ocher eyes as her violet ponytail swished and hit her back mercilessly. Her feet ached as the hard material of her long boots collided with the floor repeatedly, nervously biting her bottom lip, grinding her teeth against the soft skin. It was dark already, what was she doing out here again? Oh… yeah, she was coming home from school with Amu and the rest of their gang. Her brother had gotten home earlier, saying something about not feeling well.

Nadeshiko couldn't handle being out anymore. Her friends had played a sick joke on her. Honestly, disappearing like that was not a nice thing to do, even if she liked appearing out of thin air, it wasn't a very Amu-like thing to do. It wasn't like she was used to being out and about on cold nights like these. All she wanted to do was go home and curl up in her bed and flush the day away.

The world seemed so unfriendly when the sun was no longer out. It felt cold and empty. The stars didn't prove much when you weren't looking at them. Nadeshiko just wanted to get home and finally she did.

Everyone was at home but no one looked at her when she walked in, no one noticed her as she smiled and nodded at everyone who passed by. For a moment, she couldn't understand it, until she saw all the glum faces. Her heart sped up, her feet felt glued to the ground. Why hadn't she noticed all that… red? The bright liquid made Nadeshiko choke on her own saliva, her hand instinctively going to cup her neck. Something was most definitely not right.

Nadeshiko stood there, in the middle of a hallway, her coughs preventing her from saying a thing, her eyes clouding up a bit. She felt dizzy, and felt slightly compelled to move forward. She heard the sobbing from every family member. Did that mean that someone broke an heirloom? Is that why there was blood on the floor. The mirror in front of her showed her a person she was not.

Ocher eyes switched from a threatening orange to a crimson red. Both pupils flashed insanely and she couldn't breathe. There was laughter ringing in her ears as she crumpled down her knees. She heard the sound of a winding crank, then the sound of something splitting open. The sound of girlish giggles filled her ears, the scene of the hallway in front of her spinning around haphazardly.

Lithe footsteps and the sound of uneven breathing reached her ears as she stayed put on the ground. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. Nadeshiko heaved a sigh as her hand reached out, about to slam the box lid down when she heard a low growl and a ripping sound. In that split second her attention was torn away from the box, it had been torn away from her reach, sliding down the bloody floor and into her brother's room.

Now she got it.

Nagihiko was playing pranks on her. Oh, how cruel. Quickly, she stood up from the floor, her mind clearing once she got the facts straight. This was their plan from the start. Amu and the gang would ditch her and freak her out, knowing that she hated being alone. Then Nagihiko would set up this prank and when she opened the door to his room, she'd see all of them laughing their asses off at the display of fear she had shown in the hallway.

That was what she believed she would see. Until she slammed the door open and swallowed her voice.

Red. Red. Red. The color dripped from the blue sheets of the futon down to the tatami mats, staining the green earthen color. Crimson and Violet was a disturbing mix, barely distinguishable in the moonlight coming in from the open windows. Nadeshiko gulped and raised a hand to her mouth, not knowing how her brother attained the guts of cutting his long violet hair. I mean, that would be the only explanation as to why there were lots of over grown locks on the floor, matted in what Nadeshiko thought was red food coloring.

They were taking this too far.

Nadeshiko released a breath and dropped her hand from her throat to walk towards the closet. The questionable box she had thrown away nearly six years ago stood in the center of the room, it's lid open. From where she stood, she saw the two other things she had always loved aside from her fan. The dolls looked perfect, as perfect as they were when she had had her mother throw them away in exchange for a new one that looked a lot like Amu and herself.

Gingerly, she picked up one of the small toys, fingering the tattered Victorian style dress, and the matted blonde curls. She'd always liked dolls with fluffy puffy hair. It was sort of a fetish for her. The other doll sat in the box, it's brown hair up in small pigtails, it's Empress styled clothes still intact. The doll she was holding retained it's beautiful doe-like eyes and they stared questionably at Nadeshiko, as if they could actually see through those painted irises. She placed her finger inside the palm of the cold and small hand and for a second she thought she felt someone squeezing back.

Quickly, she tossed it back in the box and rolled her eyes. Nagihiko sucked when it came to scaring someone, how did he suddenly become so good? She turned around, intentions to go and find her brother and ask if he had the entire house play along with his prank since everyone was still so glum, but stopped when she once again heard the crank.

In place, she twirled and gasped, the lid was closed, and the crank went round, and round, and round. But who was doing it?

_'I couldn't resist'_

_'I did it once'_

_'I'll do it again'_

_'I'll come back to you'_

_'For you are my friend'_

The winding stopped, the song stopped. As soon as it did the closet door flew open and something plopped down. Nadeshiko couldn't even recognize it without the long black tresses. But he saw the mark on his wrist and with a pained gasp, mixing into a cry she knew it was none other than Nagihiko himself.

His neck was drawn back, displaying the lacerated mark that allowed the bright red liquid to flow right out of his body. His ocher eyes stared up at the ceiling fan with a cloudy gaze, and instantly she knew he couldn't see anything. His legs were covered in what looked like whip lashes and his other hand reached out, as if for something. His fingers were cut and hanging, his cheek marked with a beautiful 'R'. His left forearm had the word 'Friend' on it, in scripted in thin and fancy looking letters.

Nadeshiko dropped to her knees, not able to stomach what she had seen.

"S-Seriously… you're all taking this too far." She whispered breathless. Drunkenly, she stumbled towards her brother, laying her hands on his shoulders and shaking him vigorously "W-Wake up! Y-You win, I'm scared!"

But he didn't move. Though Nadeshiko heard the sound of feet hitting the floor, she knew it wasn't hers nor did she care. She felt something cold, yet warm at the same time, perch on her shoulder. It giggled brazenly in her ear, it's small hands clamping tightly onto her skin. Something glinted in the moonlight and she felt something cold reside near her neck.

The… doll?

"Hehe! Don't be scared!" the same voice from the song. Nadeshiko's eyes dropped down to stare at her right shoulder and indeed it was there. It smiled insanely at her, it's chocolate brown eyes glowing brightly, it's hair laying down it's back. "I'd never hurt my owner! We're going to play all day! Right? Right!"

Nadeshiko gulped, and before she knew it, let out a loud scream. She flew to her feet and grabbed the brown haired doll by the back and threw it away from her, all the way across the room. It hit the wall with a loud thud and it sticked there for a bit. The grin remained on its face, it's eyes smiling directly at the floor since it's gaze was directed that way. The doll stayed there before it's expression changed and she glared at Nadeshiko, and plopped down from the wall to the floor.

Trembling, she reached up to her neck, an instinct she'd repeated twice this night. The doll walked towards her, eyes narrowed angrily. Each step it's porcelain feet took echoed loudly in the poor Fujisaki' head. She toyed with the small knife, and licked away at the red blood. Only then did Nadeshiko realize that it was her blood, and that the doll had stuck it in her arm when she had been laying on her shoulder.

She heard a soft giggle and turned her head. The other doll.

She was perched on her brother's back, sitting down so lady-like. She had a small smile on her face as she lifted a tea cup to her pink lips and took a small sip. Her eyes flew open and she stared at Nadeshiko inquisitively, before her eyes narrowed at her then flew back to what she had been sitting on.

"It's your fault that he's dead you know…" the blonde doll whispered. Her voice sounded cold and aged, that it brought chills up and down Nadeshiko's spine. She remembered when those dolls sang that song that made her smile so much. Now it had been twisted up to the point it frightened her.

"How is it my fault?"

"You threw us away." The brown haired doll walked past her quickly, scrambling up Nagihiko's dead body. Nadeshiko couldn't help but stare, since she didn't understand. For a moment she forgot that it was dolls she was talking too. She felt insane enough to believe.

"We were supposed to kill you."

"But since you looked so much alike…"

"We killed him by accident."

"You left us to die…"

"You left us for someone else…"

"It hurt!" the brown haired doll stood up and glared at her while the blonde doll threw her porcelain tea cup, it hit the wall with a frightening crash. Nadeshiko looked at the dolls and at the knife on the floor. She picked it up, and stared at it questioningly. Her stomach churned at the sight of blood but she held it firmly in her hand.

"Can you…" she whispered "Can you revive my brother?"

The dolls blinked at her, astonished that their words didn't even reside in her head. The blonde one raised herself off of Nagihiko and settled herself on the floor, placing a hand on his face quite adoringly, almost affectionately.

"Why?" Nadeshiko wracked her brain, trying to remember her name "I made such a fantastic masterpiece."

"You." She choked out, raising her finger to point at her. "You came from a tea set and you loved spending time with me since I knew how to make tea. You promised you'd never hurt me."

"I did…" the blonde looked at her, it's doe like eyes wide that she remembered her name. Shamelessly, it glared at its previous owner "And you promised me that you'd always love me."

"Promises are meant to be broken." Rima was silenced by the brown haired doll who looked at Nadeshiko and the knife.

"If we revive him," she walked closer to Nadeshiko, cautious "What will you give us?"

"Another life." She remembered the other dolls she had been given and she closed her eyes and bit her lip. "I'll love you again. I'll do anything you want."

She heard giggling, and the sound of a wind cranking up. Nadeshiko felt someone pull on her back and tugged sharply. She was taken far away from Nagihiko's room and it was like everything was rewinding. Words echoed repeatedly in her head and she heard herself scream. Not too long she found herself standing in front of her house door.

Quickly she opened it.

"I'm home!" A door to the right opened and Baaya stepped out, clad in a kimono and smiling.

"Hello Young Mistress."

"Is my brother here?" Baaya seemed all to shocked to see her frightened expression, but nodded.

"He is in the living room, speaking with your parents." Nadeshiko nodded and made off but Baaya halted her "He says he has important news, might as well be there to hear it young mistress."

"All right." Quickly, with a heavy heart, Nadeshiko rushed as fast as she could without running, and knocked tiredly at the door. It opened quickly and Nadeshiko's face lifted up in a pure smile.

"Nagi!" she cried, throwing her arms around him. He laughed and hugged her as well. Nadeshiko pressed her neck into his shoulder, relived and happy he was alive. But the feeling was short lived when she opened her eyes.

"Oh! Is this the famous Nade-chii that Yaya has been hearing about?" the little girl stood behind her brother, her back to their parents. A wicked smile adorned her baby-ish features, a gleam in her eyes.

"Yes Yaya-chan. This is Nade." He pulled her into a seat that made her heart rush up, and it felt like it was stuck in her throat. The blonde haired girl sipped tea from the porcelain cup she held before turning her head to her.

"Nadeshiko-san." It smiled, lifting its head before slowly moving her eyes to Nagihiko who sat beside her.

"Nade, this is Rima-chan." Her heart stopped beating. This wasn't the life she had offered them!

"It's... a pleasure to meet you."

* * *

><p><strong>This was written so that I could take my mind off of that issue and I was in the mood for something maniacal. Can anybody tell me about 'Touhou'? I saw a video about it and it seems interesting.<strong>

**This might be a five-shot or two-shot, depends on how much insanity you want ;)**


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